Chalk Paint Recipe With Plaster Of Paris

best diy chalk paint

I'll be perfectly honest with you – there is no comparison here. One of these "recipes" outperforms the other in all areas, at least in my opinion. I've found the best DIY chalk paint recipe!

I went about this little experiment thinking I would find pros to both recipes, but it just didn't end up being the case. I even went out of my way to set up a controlled experiment (my fellow science teachers would be proud of me) by using the same brush, the same brand and sheen of paint, and painting the same surface.

Truly, though, one of these DIY chalk paint recipes is just simply the best. And the winner is…

chalk paint with calcium carbonate calcium carbonate chalk paint!

The texture is super smooth while the Plaster of Paris paint is thick, a little too thick for most projects. The Plaster of Paris paint dries extremely quickly, almost too quickly. I found my brush dragging almost right after I started painting. Even the outside of my brush started crusting up in the middle of my project, making it quite difficult to clean.

plaster of paris chalk paint

I've always used Plaster of Paris for my DIY chalk paint, but I'll be making the switch, now! The only time I might whip up a batch of it again would be to do a layered, dry brush effect with multiple layers of paint. I've found the thicker the paint for that type of look, the better.

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I just bought my calcium carbonate on Amazon, but I know health food stores carry it as well. Of course, I still am glad to have my Plaster of Paris on hand for thicker chalk paint.

Here's the little piece that I tested these recipes out on. It's not done yet, as it still needs one more coat of paint, some chicken wire in the doors, and wax to finish it off, but you get the picture.

diy chalk paint

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